Well the season is upon us. Last minute shopping has ALWAYS been a forte of mine – nothing like a limited time frame in which to make decisions. Most blogs are going to tell you to get practical and useful gifts for the traveler in your life this season (and we normally would too), but here are a few ideas that might take the yawn out of the inflatable pillow and eye mask giftset.
1) Mifi device. We’re all connected these days, no matter how much we want to log off. These little gadgets make your cell phone a wifi hotspot allowing travelers to have internet access when and where they choose. A god send if you’re trying to skype in the middle of a desert or in a place where internet costs $10 an hour. A cheaper alternative is to tether your phone, but not all phones do this. (Prices vary depending on your wireless provider)
2) Mobile Foodie. Can you put a price on delicious food? While I’m ALWAYS a proponent of street food, I have come across meals that from time to time need a little something. Indeed, we carried around red pepper flakes for part of our RTW trip just to spice things up a bit. Unfortunately the bags were messy and I constantly found small red pepper flakes in my clothes. Enter Mobile Foodie. All the spices you need to make Indian, Thai or Mexican food, tucked into a neatly stacked container that won’t break in your bag. ($22 from Flight 001)
3. Storage Sandal. Check out this ‘Stash’ Sandal by Reef. A slide out draw protects your cash and hotel key while you’re on the beach. Then again it does nothing to protect against the kids that come by to steal shoes just to sell them back to you. Oh well, still its very James Bond.
4. Mini-Tool with USB. Leave it to the Swiss to improve an already awesome traveler’s gadget. Victorinox has created a Swiss army knife with a USB drive. It looks like it can hold up to 16GB, way more than you’d need to upload at an internet cafe. (Available at Amazon.com starting at $48)
5. E-Reader. With downloadable magazines, books and newspapers, an e-reader is today’s answer to the tired paperback swap shelf at your hotel. Do yourself and your travel bud a favor, give them intellectually stimulating activity for the plane/train/bus. (Available through Amazon, B&N.com or your local electronics retailer)
That stash sandal is amazing. I’m always looking for somewhere to keep my stuff safe without always having a bag. And a e-reader is defo a must have. I can’t believe I used to lug heavy books everywhere!
I know, when I saw the stash sandal I was smitten! I traveled without an e-reader on our RTW- I can’t tell you how much I missed reading quality stuff. Thankfully those days are in the past! 🙂
I saw the travel foodie spice gift and laughed. I always travel with packets of seasoning to make thai and Chinese food. People are always amazed when i come over and have my own spices for just such occasions. It’s like a magic show.
I think we need to travel together! 🙂 We learned the hard way to carry our own seasonings and spices.
Fun list – my list includes a ipad and iphone and just got this new plugin at my site – check it out at the link to my site
Do you use both when you travel? We used an itouch (we left nearly 3 years ago!) and found it incredibly valuable.
This is a great list of gifts! I find the travel foodie to be ingenious. It is much easier than packing your own baggies.
I know!! My baggies always seem to get holes in them and next thing you know I’ve got red chili flakes in my errr.. unmentionables! The kits come in Thai, Indian, Mexican and I think Italian, but don’t quote me on the last one.
love those sandals!! i do a lot of beach incentive trips so those things would totally come in handy!
The sandals seem to be a huge hit!
These are all great ideas! I need to get a pair of those sandals for sure. 🙂
I know, what a great idea right?
I like the mini tool with usb. I like to travel with a mini-tool since you never know when you need it. Having an usb is like an added plus just in case if you need an extra storage space. =)
Mini-tools ARE super useful. I think we could post on the magic of the mini-tool 🙂
OMG, how am I just now learning about the MiFi? It’s too late to add to my wish list for this year :-(.
There’s always a birthday list!
Hey Jillian,
Great site! Keep it up,
Let us know if you ever feel like doing some pro-bono writing work. We’re always looking for new writers.
http://www.thisboundlessworld.com
Thanks!
D